Antonio Conte has warned that Chelsea remain a work in progress, despite an impressive burst of form that has left them a point off the top of the Premier League, and the manager is waiting until the new year before judging whether his team can mount a prolonged challenge.
Chelsea stretched their winning run to four league games – their best sequence since the run-in to the title success of 2015 – with a hugely impressive 2-0 victory at Southampton. Chelsea, whose revamped three-man defence have gone 410 minutes without conceding in the league, intend to be active in the transfer market when the window opens in January, by which time Conte believes he will be better able to gauge his side’s capabilities.
“At this moment it’s not important for us to look at the table,” he said after goals from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa inflicted Southampton’s first home defeat in 13 matches. “We are in a good position but what’s more important is to work very hard and trust the work will improve us. Sometimes you can win a game but you don’t see it happening in the right way.
“Now, game by game, I’m seeing a lot of possibilities, a lot of positives, and I have confidence because we can improve. We can improve a lot and must improve a lot. If you ask me a prediction or an expectation of our championship [credentials], now it’s very difficult to talk about this. It’s important to get through the first part of this season and then you can see if you can stay up there in the title race. Then our idea will be clearer. For now this performance really pleased me. I saw great commitment and work rate, with the ball and without it, and great unity. That is the right way to reach great satisfaction in this championship.”
Conte suggested he wanted to see goals coming from other areas of the team rather than primarily from Costa and Hazard, who have 13 between them. Yet the side’s defensive stability after those damaging reverses against Arsenal and Liverpool last month has been cause for considerable encouragement.
“For four games we have kept clean sheets,” added Conte, who had switched to a back three with his side trailing 3-0 at half-time at the Emirates on 24 September and has not looked back. “That’s fantastic because it means the confidence is increasing. The players, I think, deserve this because I see them every day, the way they are working. It’s important to achieve this type of result and performance because, in this way, they can trust more in the work.
“When you see Eden and Diego, and Pedro, working so hard, very hard, during the game, you are happy. You are happy because they are strikers and, usually, it’s a bit difficult for the strikers to work for the team. But Eden’s commitment and work rate during the game were fantastic. Now we must continue in this way. I’m pleased. Today wasn’t an easy game for us and to stay that close in the title race is good. It gives us great confidence.”
